So Softly Death Whispers
by ItchyWitch
Summary: When the magical lines that lay beneath Elantra are disrupted, both the Barrani and the Imperial Dragon Court search for the culprit... but are they really the only parties after the one responsible? Mara doesn't think so and if the immortal powers of Elantra don't make nice and start listening to her, they're going to find themselves in a bigger mess than they can survive...
1. Prologue: Outlaw

"You will give to us, The Outlaw." Viktor's calm, matter-of-fact exterior did not reflect his true emotions. Inside he roiled with anger and apprehension. He was so close, so very close to his prize he wanted to shout and rage. He knew, however, that the time was not now. He could not afford to lose face and show to these Barrani bastards just how desperately he desired the Outlaw. "The creature is ours to contain and ours to punish." He added. "Or has the Outlaw committed some crime against the immortals of this city that we have not been informed of?" Barrani Lords expected much more respect than Viktor was offering but he was not beholden to any of them. He served only two men and they were Lord Diarmat and the Eternal Emperor. They deserved his undying respect and gratitude, not the Barrani.

The Lord of the High Halls made no movement to hint at the foul dip of his mood but the deepening of the blue of his eyes was all the indication Viktor Norios needed. The Lord was silently furious, angry about Viktor blatant disrespect and the fact that he was mortal and in The Halls. "The Outlaw has not committed any great transgression against us, no." He drew an arm up and waved a graceful hand as if batting the statement aside. "However," Viktor tensed, "it remains to be known that the creature is capable of becoming a great danger. It is a magic of unknown origin and my Kin and I are content at the moment to contain the anomaly ourselves under the surveillance of our own people," He paused. "Unless of course you have proof of the emperors desire to attain and transport it." The Consort, silent throughout the entire meeting, remained stoic and impassive, save the slight quirk of her lips. They were laughing at him.

Viktor's grimace was brief, but not unnoticed by the Lord of the High Halls or the rest of the gathered Barrani court, having called into question the only thing lacking in Viktor's resolve. He did not have the proper documentation on hand to warrant the confiscation of the outlaw and therefore could not do as he intended. He could not have foreseen that his hunt would lead him to The High Halls and neither, for that matter, had The Imperial Dragon Court. He gritted his teeth in his anger and frustration. His orders had simply been to track the source of the recent magic imbalance in the lines of magical power that lay beneath Elantra. He had did not think that the source would prove to be solely confined to one specific being: on the contrary, he as well as The Imperial Dragon Court had assumed that the only power great enough to siphon enough energy from the lines would be a large circle of Mages or Arkanists. Upon discovering that the magical drop in the lines was caused by one person, no, one creature, he vowed that he would capture it and bring it to his Lord.

Viktor, upon accepting the hunt from Lord Diarmat, had been supplied with what could be called a bomb. That particular bomb, however, had not been designed to destroy or incinerate but to place any creatures within the radius of the blast into a lasting coma that could only be broken by the creator of the weapon. It had been potent enough to consume and nullify the power of at least ten fully fledged Arkanists. He deemed the use of the bomb on only a single target necessary due to power it ad demonstrated and was now caught in a dream stasis. The Barrani, unfortunately for Viktor, had also been tracking the Outlaw and reached the unconscious threat before he had.

"The Eternal Emperor is not confined to his own laws." Viktor Norios stated. "And what would the Barrani even hope to gain from the Outlaw?" He didn't think that the Barrani Court understood that they would not be able to wake and observe the power of the Outlaw unless the spell of the bomb was lifted. It was his last hope of returning to his Lord victorious so he added. "Only the power of both Lord Sanabalis and The Arkon can lift the veil of sleep so I must take it with me… Unless of course you would rather The Imperial Dragon Court pay a visit to the High Halls to nullify the spell and appear on a regular basis to observe and test the creature?" Viktor grinned as The Lord of the High Halls showed a grimace of his own. He'd won. He would bring his prize the his Lord Diarmat and finally… finally, he would impress the immortal dragon who he swore his allegiance to. Finally he would prove to his Lord that mortals were not the expendable, fragile things that were limited in their accomplishments and their ingenuity.

An hour later Viktor Norios boarded an imperial carriage, an iron box large enough to carry three adults hitched to the tail end of the cab. He grinned to himself as the driver shut his door behind him but it fell from his face one he caught sight of the Barrani man watching him from the front steps of The High Halls. Lord Evarrim glared down at him, eyes so dark a blue they appeared black even in the afternoon light. Viktor knew that the look promised trouble and his eyes never left the Barrani's as he leaned forward to rap the interior of the cab to signal the driver to depart.


	2. My Name Is Mara

The sun was high and its warmth beat down on her bare skin. It was one of those cloudless days in the height of the summers heat when it could become so utterly bright outside that the colors of the world appeared sharper somehow and more radiant. She lay on her back in the center of a clearing so wide that none of the ancient trees that surrounded her penetrated her view of the clear blue sky. The emerald clovers beneath her were like a soft bed and greener than any plants she'd ever encountered. She was naked, aside from the stark white loincloth that wrapped her hips and hung to cover her front and backside and the cool summer breeze that danced across her warm bronzed skin felt like the feather light kisses of a soft lover. She listened to the rustling hiss of leaves as the wind swam through the trees and the babbling of a nearby brook.

The calm serenity of the dream-like place was broken suddenly by a soft pop of air off in the distance somewhere. It was a curious sound but she shrugged it off as unimportant, the clover bed being too comfortable to warrant her agitation. When she heard as second soft pop, however, her brows furrowed and she sat up straight and looked over the scenery. The sky was normal, the towering trees were normal and so was the stream the hushed through the clearing. What was not normal, however, were the two figures that were now standing near the water. They were far enough away from her that she could not tell what they looked like but what she could infer was that they were both men, they were old… or older if the gray and silver of their hair was any indication of age and they were also wealthy, unless the poor had recently taken to wearing fine robes while she was gone.

_Gone._

And that was the right word. She had been gone… but for how long? When had she left? Why? And where had she left? Gods… where did she come from? She didn't know. She didn't have answers but where ever she was now was beautiful and she was content so stay.

She stood up and stared out at the two men in the distance. They were looking around, observing their surroundings. When the gaze of the man in the deep blue robes seemed to fall upon her, he stilled. He said something to the other man, who was dressed in deep browns and rich gold but the wind swallowed most of his voice, whipping her waist length waves into a chocolate flurry around her mostly nude body.

She raised a hand in silent greeting and, after a moment, so too did the two men. She took three hurried steps towards them before she halted. She was exited. She'd never seen anyone else in this place and wanted to meet them, to talk to them. She knew she should be cautious because they were strangers but she found that she couldn't help it when her legs started to carry her towards them again. Her eyes never left them for fear that they would disappear if she looked away or blinked.

Her gaze was trained on the man in blue. He was, as she had assumed, an older gentleman. The wind blew again and his long silver hair rippled. His slender beard tried to follow but he caught it when it began to whisper about and held in still. There was a kind warmth in his eyes that the other man was lacking. The man in the brown was colder somehow, postured as if he cared not for much and much did not interest him. His gray hair was shorter and mussed slightly as if he thought it unruly and had taken to raking his fingers through it to keep it tamed from his face. A short goatee graced his wise features and his eyes narrowed in suspicion. His eyes were a gold just shy of orange, which was an eye color she wasn't familiar with. The blue mans eyes were a yellower shade but gold nonetheless.

"Your eyes," She said softly to them. "They are beautiful…" The brown man snorted but the man in blue smiled a soft, inviting spread of lips and she drew closer to him. "Who are you? How did you get to this place?" She asked.

"My name," The blue man began, voice deeper and fuller than she would ever have attributed to a man his age. "is Lord Sanabalis. This," he gestured to his companion. "is The Arkon. And you are?"

"My name is Mara." She told Lord Sanabalis. There was an uneasy silence then and she felt the need to fill it. "W-what brings you to…" She looked around. "to wherever this is…"

"You, Child," The Arkon spoke finally and his voice was just as rich as that of Lord Sanabalis. "are sleeping."

Her brows furrowed. "Sleeping?"

"Yes." It was Sanabalis. "You are unconscious and we are attempting to wake you, young one."

She frowned. "I won't wake up on my own?"

The Arkon huffed. "No, Girl, or we wouldn't be here."

The tail ends of his words were harsh like a growl and it made her stiffen and fasten her eyes to him. It did not go unchecked by either of them and she eyed the one called Sanabalis. "You… are not as you appear." It wasn't a question. "Either of you."

He inclined his head. "We are not. We are, however, here to help you, little one. We do not mean to harm you in anyway."

She took a step back, the cool calm of the supposed dreamland around her starting to seep away, leaving her with a cautious resolve and a narrowing gaze. "Where am I really?" She asked.

"You are in the Imperial Palace." The Arkon offered. "You are unconscious… and you are dying."

Her eyes widened. "How?"

"You have no memory of your travels to our world?" Sanabalis inquired.

"Travels to your—" She gasped suddenly. "You mean it worked?" She broke out into a grin. "I traveled to another world? I did it?"

Lord Sanabalis frowned for the first time and nodded his head. "Indeed you did. The significance of that being most overwhelming."

Mara didn't hear him. She was overwhelmed. She'd made it! She had escaped! "I can't believe it!" She shouted with excitement at the fact of her accomplishment and yet she still felt a cold fear slithering through the barrier of her calm. Turning to the Arkon she asked, "But where have I come to?"

He snorted smoke and she took an immediate leap back. "As I said," He spoke as if her utter lack of intelligence was as offensive as a rancid apple. "You are in the Imperial Palace."

She scowled at him and turned away, giving her full attention to Lord Sanabalis, much to his obvious displeasure. There was pecking order, it seemed, leaving her at the bottom and The Arkon apparently above Sanabalis. She didn't give a shit. "Well," She grinned wickedly feeling the beauty of the place start to slip away completely, allowing her to take hold of her true self, "maybe _you_ can tell me. Where. Am. I?"

A single silver brow rose then and, oddly enough, the corner of the old mans mouth quirked up ever so slightly. "You are in the city of Elantra. It is by far the strongest city our world has seen for many centuries and it is held in possession of the Eternal Emperor. You, little one, have disrupted the ley lines beneath our city by way of travel and, until proven otherwise, are considered a threat."

"What do you mean a threat?" She roared at him and clouds started to form overhead, the sun dimming as the sky filled and prepared to weep. "I escaped!" Tears collected in her eyes as old pain returned to her. "I survived! I was to only one!" The Arkon rolled his eyes up to the sky to gazed at the graying clouds and Lord Sanabalis did the same when thunder cracked and echoed through out the dream world. When a single angry tear spilled onto Mara's cheek, it started to pour rain.

"It would appear," Sanabalis began, "that our time here has come to an end." The ground began to swell with water and worms wriggled from the mud. "You must understand, Child. We are not here because we must be. We chose to link ourselves to you in an attempt to study you and in turn, save you. Lord Diarmat would have seen you dead if not for our intervention."

"Lord _Who_?" The thought that someone would think to take her life after having just escaped that very fate was infuriating. She had finally made it, she'd escaped to a whole new world entirely and already someone wanted her erased…

"You have two options, girl." The Arkon picked up where Sanabalis left off, ignoring her inquiry. The wind whipped with the force of her anger and sadness so strongly that the ancient trees around them started to moan. "You can either come with us, let us help to break your sleep and wake you… "

"Or you will die here, trapped in your own mind until your physical body fails." Sanabalis finished.

She looked around at the world then. The water and mud had risen to her knees and what she had once though were worms now appeared bigger somehow, thicker and with spiked fins that they used to propel and writhe through the muck. They were like monstrous eels from another world… and perhaps they were. "I will go with you." She finally said, aware of the water rising ever higher. "I will go with you."

Sanabalis reached out to her and the moment she touched her fingertips to his… the world went black…


End file.
